Raising the Bar – Be – Que

The best and worst thing about bar-be-que chicken is that you can easily buy a bar-be-que sauce at the grocery store. It makes life easier; that’s for sure. And a delicious bar-be-que sauce does make for delicious bar-be-que chicken. But sometimes the sauce you consider a basic just becomes plane old boring.

This Bite-Sized Blonde has been wanting to make bar-be-que sauce for a long time now. While I’ve always wanted to make bar-be-que sauce, all the recipes I have found are overwhelmingly long. All but one I should say. After seeing Gwyneth Paltrow’s recipe for peach bar-be-que sauce in Bon Appétit magazine, I knew I was finally going to be able to make my own sauce! That’s right, Gwyneth Paltrow, mom of two, is not only a phenomenal actress and singer, she is also a cookbook author. Now that’s what I call a triple threat.

Her recipe for bar-be-que sauce is accessible; there are only a handful of ingredients and it takes about 15 minutes. It’s so simple but tastes so complex; your guests will think you’re a culinary genius!

Directions
Combine the peaches, ketchup, lemon juice, garlic and soy sauce in a small saucepan. Season lightly with salt and pepper and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low; simmer until peaches are very soft and the flavors meld. This should take about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let the sauce cool for about 10 minutes. Once the sauce has cooled, pour the peach mixture into a blender and puree until the mixture is smooth. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Let the sauce cool in the refrigerator for about an hour. Then, use half the sauce to marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes, but up to 8 hours. The longer, the better. Prepare the grill to a medium-high heat. Brush the grill rack with the vegetable oil so that the chicken doesn’t stick. Place the chicken on the grill and brush the side up with sauce. Grill the chicken for about 6 minutes and then flip and brush again with the remaining sauce. If there is leftover sauce, serve it alongside the chicken.